Spot shouldn’t have been put down, ‘van man’ says; May sue

Jimmy Tarangelo showing proof that Spot had been receiving veterinary care: the dog’s July 25 discharge sheet from the ABC Animal Hospital, in the East Village. Photo by YANNIC RACK

BY YANNIC RACK | A homeless man wants to sue the ASPCA and the N.Y.P.D. after his dog was taken away from him, and then euthanized without his even being notified first.

Jimmy Tarangelo’s dog Spot was removed from his possession on Aug. 7 after the Sixth Precinct received 13 calls in July alone, alerting them to a large wound on the dog’s back, according to police.

“They took him away. They destroyed him!” Tarangelo said last Monday, still furious. “The dog wasn’t beaten, emaciated or in a dogfight. He’s been taken care of and I have all the papers. You can’t do this!”

Tarangelo tried to reunite with his dog for days. His daily calls to the ASPCA went unanswered and multiple visits to the police also failed to turn up results, Tarangelo said on Monday.

He only found out from a reporter for DNAinfo almost a week after Spot was taken away that the dog had been put down.

When he went down to the Sixth Precinct on Fri., Aug. 8, to question the police on the dog’s condition and whereabouts, he was arrested and charged with animal cruelty, with a desk ticket to appear in court on Sept. 15.

“I want to vindicate my name,” Tarangelo said. “Once the charge gets dismissed, there will be a lawsuit now. And I got people that will back me up and come to court.”

He said he doesn’t have a lawyer yet.

Spot had a large mast cell tumor on his back. Here it doesn’t look so bad, but sometimes it was a bloody, oozing mess. Tarangelo would wash it out under a fire hydrant, then cover it with a bandage. Photo by ANGELINA BATTISTA

Tarangelo, who is 62, has been living in two vans on Greenwich St., just south of Clarkson St., since he lost his apartment on Leroy St. in a court battle in 2001. He has another dog, Pickles, who is Spot’s son.

The wound on Spot’s back turned out to be a mast cell tumor that had already been treated by several veterinarians, according to Tarangelo.

On Monday, he produced multiple records of vet visits for Spot, a border collie Lab mix, and said that the police also made copies of the paperwork on the day the dog was taken.

The date from the most recent visit to the ABC Animal Hospital, at 200 Avenue A, was July 25, according to a discharge sheet from the hospital, which recommended that Spot’s bandages be changed every three days and that the tumor be covered.

Statements from Tarangelo’s CareCredit — a special healthcare and medical financing card for human dental and veterinary bills — showed that he recently had spent $650 and had outstanding credit of $4,800. Tarangelo said he only uses the card for his two dogs. An additional $1,000 had recently been raised to pay for further treatment of Spot’s tumor.

However, a statement from the New York Police Department on Monday said that “the owner was unable to provide documentation of recent medical care for the animal.”

“The owner was deemed unable to properly care for the dog, which suffered from chronic bronchitis, a lung disorder exacerbated by living outside in the hot weather,” the police statement continued.

“The dog was also found with an open wound lacking a bandage, a condition in direct contrast to its last discharge instructions from an animal hospital. Emergency removal of the dog was conducted for its well-being, following a conferral with ASPCA officials, including a veterinarian,” the police statement added.

Tarangelo regularly cleaned the open wound under a nearby fire hydrant, prompting passersby, alarmed by the dog’s blood-dripping lesion, to call the police.

Angelina Battista, who works a block away from Tarangelo’s van at Comedy Central and volunteers for the Humane Society, with the help of her co-workers raised the $1,000 for Spot’s treatment.

Since Spot was put down, neighborhood locals and friends have been expressing their sympathy for Tarangelo, as well as disbelief at the details of the case.

Battista, who Tarangelo calls his “guardian angel,” said she started helping take care of Spot to ease the dog’s pain, bringing by food every day and cleaning his bandages.

Nevertheless, she said, in a phone interview on Tuesday, “The way I looked at it, the dog needed to be put to sleep, pretty much. I mean he was in really bad shape.

“You know, the thing is, the way they did it wasn’t really right,” she said. “There were two dogs there and the other one is crying all the time now. It’s just bad. I called the police a million times trying to get them to do it the right way. No dog should be put down without its owner.”

On his last visit to the ABC Animal Hospital, Tarangelo was advised by a veterinarian that the dog should be put down but that the decision was up to the owner, according to Battista, who accompanied him.

Tarangelo admitted that he refused to part with the dog after the vet’s recommendation, but said he was seeking alternative treatment for the tumor.

“They’re gonna say he was 15 years old — I understand that,” he said. “But I had dogs for 42 years, since I was 20 years old. And I put a few to sleep, I know when it’s time. His appetite was better than his son’s. He was walking. It wasn’t time yet to put him to sleep.

“His end day should have been with me, not some doctor making a decision. They have no right to do that.”

The ASPCA issued a statement about Spot last Friday.

“We understand the outpouring of concern for this dog. The approximately 15-year-old dog was seized by N.Y.P.D. based on probable cause of animal cruelty and because of his severely compromised condition and need for medical attention,” the statement said.

“ASPCA veterinarians determined that the dog was suffering from a number of incurable and extremely painful conditions and determined that humane euthanasia was necessary to prevent further suffering.”

The statement added that the ASPCA could not disclose any details of the dog’s ailments or the care they provided him, since this is a pending criminal case.

“I’m just about positive that I will get the charges dismissed,” Tarangelo said. “I’m not guilty of animal cruelty.” He added that he was only suing “on behalf of Spot.”

Advertisers from our print edition

Comments are often moderated.

We appreciate your comments and ask that you keep to the subject at hand, refrain from use of profanity and maintain a respectful tone to both the subject at hand and other readers who also post here. We reserve the right to delete your comment.

One Response to Spot shouldn’t have been put down, ‘van man’ says; May sue